Skip to main content
Glite Dictionary
🏛️ Roman family or poet 📝 A Roman poet
Claudian

Claudian

1 9.9
A Roman poet from the late 300s who wrote praise poems for emperors and officials
  • proper noun
  • /ˈklɔːdiən/
: Claudiano
  • His extant works are his Panegyrics on different emperors (in which he draws largely upon Statius, Ausonius, and Claudian), which document several important political events.

Examples

  • Among his notable works, Claudian's epic poems highlight the grandeur of imperial Rome.

  • The literary contributions of Claudian have significantly influenced subsequent generations of poets.

  • Claudian was a renowned poet in the late Roman Empire, celebrated for his eloquent Claudian panegyrics.

Surface Forms

Claudian main

Morphology

Claudian = Claudius (opaque) = Claudius + ian

Although formally derived from the name 'Claudius' + '-ian', the lexicalized use as the proper name of a specific poet is not predictable in meaning from the base; knowing 'Claudius' does not tell a learner this is a late 4th-century poet.

Etymology

Claudian was the name of a late fourth-century Roman poet, and his name comes from the family name Claudius, from Latin claudus 'lame'. So when we say Claudian we usually mean that poet or his writings.